The seventh edition of Techtextil North America, which took place May 18 – 20, 2010 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia as part of a co-location effort with both the ATME-I show and SPESA EXPO creating the first ever Textile & Sewn Products Industry Week in an effort that is said to have provided tremendous value for textile and sewn products industry professionals at all levels of the textile and sewn products manufacturing and application supply chains.

The 2010 Techtextil North America event hosted 233 exhibitors from 22 countries including international pavilions from Belgium/France, Canada, China, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Taiwan, while the total co-location attendance exceeded 8,000.

Michael Jaenecke, Brand Manager of Techtextil Worldwide noted that “the floor buzzed, the feedback of the exhibitors was very positive and the co-location effort turned out to be very beneficial for all parties.”

“The North American companies and market seem to be slowly recovering from the still challenging economic situation. Techtextil North America 2010 turned out to be one of the best Techtextil shows we ever had in the USA. So we are very optimistic regarding our upcoming shows.”

David Audrain, President of Messe Frankfurt North America, added: “We are extremely pleased with the results of Techtextil North America this year, and especially pleased with the success of the co-location. This has created a wonderful foundation for growth as we move forward with our permanent co-location and partnership with SPESA.”

Symposium Highlights

The Techtextil North America Symposium was again held concurrently with the show. The 2010 program featured 13 primary sessions containing a total of 70 presentations from industry leaders on topics such as technical textile research, military developments, protective textiles, nonwovens, biotechnology and smart/intelligent fabrics.

Edward Gregor, President of Edward C. Gregor Associates commented on the 2010 edtion: “I’ve moderated a session at every Techtextil North America Symposium in Atlanta since its inception. What impresses me most is the diversity and quality of the attendees, all with one common mission; to learn firsthand what they cannot at any other industry forum and to be on top of their game once back home at their company.”

Techtextil North America 2011

In 2011 Messe Frankfurt will again produce a West Coast edition of Techtextil North America which will take place March 15 – 17 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas 2012 will again bring the largest textile and sewn products industry event to the Americas with the co-location Techtextil North America and the new Texprocess Americas (incorporating SPESA EXPO). The co-located shows will be held April 24 – 26, 2012 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Techtextil North America represents all vertical aspects of the technical textile industry from research and development, through raw materials and production processes, to conversion, further treatment and recycling.

Bedford Weaving, Inc., Jimmy Williamson, Sales, USA: “The show is always beneficial. I learn something new every time I attend. Good Job!”

Dorel Industries, Eric McCann, Airlay Supervisor, Canada: “Techtextil North America gave me the chance to meet with key suppliers and establish a serious and promising game plan for my current product development efforts”

Encompass Corporate, Tom Langdon, Vice President of Purchasing, USA: “We usually attend Techtextil North America looking for the latest innovations applicable to our industry (healthcare products). Then we might attend the SPESA EXPO event to meet with some of our vendors. It was a real convenience to be able to accomplish both of these goals at one place. This approach was also very cost effective as most companies continue to manage their travel budgets very closely.”

Georgia Power Company, Rick Ranhotra, Process Engineer, USA: “This expo was a great way to see innovative products and equipment from all around the world under one roof (one very big roof). As a supplier to the industry, I found it helpful to gauge which other suppliers and countries were committed to a presence in the technical textiles industry.”

Lafitte Mop Co., Inc., Melanie Lafitte, Sales, USA: “Great show - thanks so much - the combined effort with SPESA EXPO was wonderful!”

National Spinning Co., James Chesnutt, President, USA: “You hit a home run this year! There was a good cross section of suppliers represented. This is definitely the best show I’ve been to in years. It was well organized and our company benefited greatly.”

Reebok-CCM, Francois Masse, Textile Technician, Canada: “It was a pleasure to attend Techtextil North America and it was the best textile show I’ve attended in years. The co-location was brilliant and created a nice buzz offering something for everyone. The Symposiums we found to be a great benefit to our group.”

Exhibitor Statements

Glen Raven, Kara Pope, Marketing Coordinator, USA: “The collocation of these events has created tremendous synergies between strong players across various industries.”

Italian Trade Commission, Fabrizio Giustarini, Italian Trade Commissioner, Italy: “We would like to congratulate Messe Frankfurt USA and its associates for organizing a very successful event.

The Italian companies that exhibited in this year’s edition of Techtextil North America were pleased with the quality of the show visitors and look forward to participating again in 2012.”

Lenzing, Oliver Spoecker, Sales and Marketing Manager, Austria:

“I can only say positive things about Techtextil North America. It is bigger and better than ever.”

MEP-OLBO GmbH, Marie-Luise Keuler, Director Sales Fabric, Germany: “This was our first time exhibiting at Techtextil North America – and it sure was a good decision and worth while. We had some of our key customers visiting us (we made appointments ahead) but also had new promising contacts. I thank you all for a good job and the opportunity you gave us to increase our activities on the U.S. market.”

Richard Hough Limited, Anthony Ashton, Managing Director, United Kingdom: “The upbeat feel of Techtextil North America was enhanced by the excellent quality of visitors. Representatives from some of the largest nonwoven manufacturing companies in the U.S. as well as textile manufacturers from Canada and South America came to our booth.”

RKW US, Inc., Morris Collins, President, USA: “Overall the show was fantastic. It exceeded my expectations and I particularly liked the combination set up with three events next to one another.”

SABIC Innovative Plastics, Shawn Lee, Product Marketing Manager, High Performance Polymers, USA: “We were pleased with the event and feel we have hit our major goals for the show. We were able to see a good mix of people involved in every step of the technical textile production process.”

SilerClear, Jack Gabay, President, USA: “We found the quality of the customers on the floor to be exceptional. The right people from a good range of industries were represented. We will be back next year!”

Stahl USA, David Kuzdrall, Market Manager – Textiles & Thin Films, USA: “This show has been very good for us, better than other shows. We have had great, relevant conversations with prospects that presented real problems and were eager to discuss new solutions.”

Supertex Liberty Industries Inc., Howard E. Cumins, Vice President and C.O.O., USA: “Great show. We met many new prospects from both far away and near to us that did not know our company existed.”

Technical Coating International, Inc., Burt Moody, President, USA: “Best show in quite a few years! We received good quality leads and plan on participating in Las Vegas.”

ThermoPore Materials Corporation, Ken Milam, New Business Development, USA: “What I liked best about Techtextil North America was the number and quality of leads we received. It was more than we expected and we should be busy for a while following up. Thank you for a great show!”

Zhejiang Guxiandao Industrial Fibre Co, Ltd., Jin Ge, General Manager, China: “This is the third time we have exhibited in Atlanta and we consider this the only platform in North America to maintain our business and meet our exisiting customers. We were also pleased to gain some new business at the 2010 event.”